Adventure and Outdoor Therapy
Adventure Specialties Trust is an organisation with over forty years' experience providing Outdoor Education and Adventure Therapy in Christchurch and Auckland. Through Visser & Associates, their Adventure Therapy services are available to clients under the ACC Sensitive Claims Service (SCS). The client will be working with an ACC Therapist in the Support to Wellbeing phase.
Our Adventure Therapy programmes are delivered in partnership with Adventure Specialties Trust, who have been running outdoor programmes in Aotearoa since 1984.
Group programme
Revive Group Adventure Therapy
For adults 18+, Revive is a group therapy programme for ACC SCS clients. The programme runs one day a week (10am–2pm) over an eight-week period within a school term, with a maximum of eight participants per group (currently grouped by single gender). It's run by an ACC-registered Clinician, and an Outdoor Instructor, both from Adventure Specialties Trust.
Each session involves an easy adventure activity — walking, kayaking, mountain biking, or rock climbing — alongside a mindful exploration of nature and therapeutic reflection and discussion.
- Adults 18+
- One day a week, 10am–2pm
- Eight weeks, within a school term
- Maximum eight participants
Group programme
Kōwhai Grove Outdoor Group Therapy
For Adults 18+, this is a two-and-a-half-hour session each week for eight weeks. It's an Outdoor Therapy, Nature-based session so, without the kayaks, heights, bikes and surfboards that we use on our Revive Adventure Therapy Programmes. So, for those clients with less energy, less time, or less inclination for our longer adventures.
A different outdoor location each week for eight weeks, a gentle walk, sitting in nature, creative endeavours, moving our bodies, connecting to, and co-regulating with Nature and each other. We'll incorporate tools and strategies for nervous system regulation; whether that's a need for slowing down, finding calm from fight/flight, or increasing energy and mood.
- Adults 18+
- Two and a half hours each week
- Eight weeks
- A different location each week
Individual sessions
Taking Therapy Outside
Sessions might be sitting outside in your own garden or a local park, walking along a beach, or biking together in the forest. Recent participants have told us they've found it easier to talk while moving, that their mood lifts being outdoors, and that they sleep better after gentle exercise. It's also a way to practice the goals you're working towards — gaining confidence in new places, improving self-care through walking or gardening, or expressing emotions non-verbally through art or mindfulness in nature.
Together with you and your therapist we agree a plan for sessions. You choose:
- What you'd like to do in the session — sit, walk, bike, or connect with nature
- How often sessions take place — weekly, fortnightly, or on request
- What we talk about in the session
Safety and confidentiality are central. We work collaboratively with you, your therapist, and your support networks to make sure sessions are physically and emotionally safe.
How Adventure Therapy can support you
Reduce anxiety
- Trying something new and going to new places.
- Practicing coping strategies through deep breathing, mindfulness, and nature connection.
- Tūrangawaewae — gaining a sense of place and identity through activities in the Canterbury region, becoming familiar with locations you can visit again on your own.
Lift your mood
- Time away from regular stress and triggers.
- Nature connection — sunlight, fresh air, restorative and restful settings in beautiful Canterbury that can lift mood and lower blood pressure. Even adverse weather creates a challenge we get through together.
- Moving your body — gentle or energising, your choice.
- Wairuatanga — opportunities for spiritual connection through awe, wonder, and curiosity about the world.
- Being outside also improves appetite, sleep, and concentration.
Increase your self-worth
- Become more aware of your personal strengths.
- Increase empowerment and reduce feelings of powerlessness.
- Learn and practice self-compassion, self-care, self-appreciation, and nurture.
Increase your strategies for coping with challenges
- Learn from metaphors in nature — riding the waves of anxiety, wet weather not lasting forever, seasonal change and letting go.
- Practice mindfulness and grounding in a natural setting where these techniques work especially well.
- Notice your emotional or physical responses to challenges and practice dealing with them in a safe way.
The ideal participant
- Is established in a lead provider relationship, with a Support to Wellbeing Plan in place. Trauma processing and recovery are well established and underway.
- Has established goals and is looking for a safe, supportive environment to practice and develop these skills — for example around social interaction, self-regulation, confidence in new places, discovering strengths, reconnecting with the body, and improving wellbeing.
- Is a willing participant who the lead provider agrees is in a stable, suitable place for the programme, and is a good match for the group cohort.
- Is physically able to walk for twenty minutes at a time and has the mobility to climb a ladder.
Our Adventure Therapy provider
Anneke Beardsley
Social Worker · Adventure Therapy Clinician
Christchurch, Canterbury
Anneke is an Adventure Therapy Clinician and is ACC-registered to provide individual and group therapy sessions. She is a Social Worker with twenty years' experience in therapeutic and mental health roles, including work with young people in specialist foster care, with children and families in school settings, and therapeutic group work with women, men and children.
Anneke works in Solution-Focussed, Person-centred, and Strength-based ways, with a particular commitment to building strong, safe relationships with clients. She firmly believes each of us is the expert in our own lives and asks for feedback every session to ensure the service continues to be useful.
She believes strongly in the healing and health benefits that come from connection with te Taiao (the natural world). Participating in therapy takes courage, and she works with warmth, compassion, and a trauma-informed approach so clients can feel a greater strength as they face life's challenges.
Anneke continues to grow her skills and qualifications in the outdoors to broaden the range of Adventure Therapy activities she can offer.
Registrations & memberships
- Registered with the Social Workers Registration Board NZ (SWRB)
- Member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW)
- Associate member of NZOIA (NZ Outdoor Instructors Association)
We also engage other ACC Registered and Approved Providers, as required, to assist with the delivery of our Adventure Therapy programmes.
Ready to find out more?
Whether you're a client exploring your options or a Lead Provider enquiring about Revive, we're happy to answer your questions.
Or contact Adventure Specialties Trust directly